Severe Flea Infestation

[SarahH]

I am at my absolute wits end and have been driven to tears.

We have a flea infestation that no amount of chemicals, vacuuming or washing will get rid of.

Before this summer my dogs had never had fleas in their entire lives (and the older one turns 9 this year)

Now they are covered in them ...no sooner do I wash them than they are covered in them again.

At lunchtime today for example I took them to the beach for a swim as the saltwater really helps soothe the itch. Whilst they were in the water I gave them a good scrubbing..head to toe including a good dunk (which they like) they were flea free when I got home at 1pm. By 6pm they were covered again so I washed them in the toxic flea wash....but experience shows me they'll be covered again by the morning.

This has been going on since mid January.

They are both on Sentinel, I was using Frontline but that didn't work so I switched to Advantix but that didn't work either...now I am just washing them in the toxic chemical flea wash every 2-3 days, the house has been flea bombed 3 times, I vacuum everyday and replacing the vaccuum bags twice a week (costing me a fortune), their beds have been thrown away - now they sleep on an old mattress protector which I wash in flea shampoo once a week. I've also been using the Capstar rapid knockdown pills which works for about a day but I can't use them everyday.

My boy is OK - just itchy... but my poor girl is raw and half bald with flea allergy dermatitis...her skin is coming off in great big flakes and apparently the topical treatments (Frontline, Advantix etc) won't work when her skin is this raw and dry anyway.

I think we're going to be bankrupt or have cancer from all the chemicals before I get rid of these fleas.

Is anyone else going through this? Does anyone have any suggestions? I am having a nervous breakdown.

Oh - and I'm in the inner west of Sydney if that makes any difference....I wonder if I am fighting a losing battle if my neighbours aren't doing the same thing?

Please help me!

[dogbesotted]

as an adjunct to what you are doing...try these ( i am having the same battle.) things are finally on the improve.

http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Fleas-Without-Poisons.htm

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/peta...es.htm#external

[shmoo]

perhaps get a pest control guy so come through and spray the whole house, yard and under the house?

fleas breed in sandy soil, and if you have some under your house or in your yard... they will just keep coming back

[SarahH]

thanks for that - I forgot to add that I have also been using a Neem oil based soap on the girl to try to calm her skin down and have just a few minutes ago rubbed in half a bottle of baby oil into her backside (the only mild oil I have on hand)...her poor skin is just so raw it hurts me to look at it.

and having read that first link I am now even more scared about the potential side effects of all the chemicals - have just thrown the flea shampoo out. Frightening.

[SarahH]

shmoo - thats on the top of tomorrow's To Do list.

[Miranda]

If the topical treatments aren't working try Permoxin. Your girl needs a cortisone shot and a short course of tablets, the cortisone will depress her immune system (not good I know, but when things get this bad you really have no other choice) and stop the itching and once the itching stops she'll stop scratching and her skin will heal. Make sure you treat all the animals in your yard, cats can often harbour fleas but show no symptoms at all. If you do have cats don't use Permoxin on them, try some Advantage.

[Kodiak]

Dought conditions bring fleas out in their millions - they like the dry! They are probably in the soil, dog bedding and any carpets you have on your floors if they are indoors.

Vacuuming every day is good if they are in the carptet - you need to do it everyday to break the breeding cycle. I got a tip on DOL of putting a piece of flea collar in the vacuum bag so any sucked up fleas are killed.

Lime is good for the soil - you may need to sprinkle it under the house too. If you look there was a great thread a while back (probably in this section) with tips about flea control.

I hate flea collars, flea shampoos and chemicals you put on the animals coat because I have young children who may inadvertently transfer the chemicals to their mouths. I prefer to use a flea comb and some hot water to kill the fleas in plus give the dogs sentinel spectrum to aid in breaking the breeding cycle.

With fleas persistence pays off.

[shmoo]

Hopefully the problem will disappear soon with all this work!!

The cooler season is coming, fingers crossed it gets easier.

[SarahH]

ughh

just vaccuumed the whole house again...moved all the furniture, replaced the bag, sprayed the machine...I am becoming obsessive. Losing my mind. Just the thought of having flea eggs and larvae in the carpet makes me nauseous..but I know they must be there. We haven't had any on us...they seem to prefer the dogs.

my mother also suggested I flea bomb the car too. Hadn't thought of that.

Lime - how much do I have to use? Will it kill the grass? (not that I care at this point)

[Monsimbeegsds]

Sounds like you are having a terrible time!

We had never had a problem with fleas (we use sentinel/advantix) before this month when our old dog started scratching profusely. I was horrified to find that he was covered in fleas. Gave him capstar and applied advantix. We rang a friend who has a pest control business and he suggested using a mix of eucylptus oil and water (we used appx 50ml to 10 litres of water).

We made this up and put it in a large spray back pack (like those you can buy for weed killer)

We cut the grass (apparently fleas like long grass as well as dirt) and then sprayed the yard with this mix; we washed the dogs beds with the mix too, vacuumed the carpets (put eucylptus oil direct into the vacuum bag to kill any fleas) and then lightly sprayed the house.

So far its been three weeks and things seem to be going ok. Might be worth a try and its not chemical (and smells nice too!).

If you go on the internet and google 'eucylptus' and 'fleas' there are some natural remedies too.

Good luck and hang in there!

Karen

[Monsimbeegsds]

Oops posted twice!

Edited April 10, 2007 by Monsimbeegsds

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

As Miranda has suggested try Permoxin. Midol on these forums also had a flea problem similar to yours, nothing worked until he used Permoxin.

[Cavandra]

Sounds ghastly!

I have been getting the odd flea here this year, and one flea is enough to completely ruin a dogs show coat

I use Advantix and find that it only lasts 2-3 weeks these days. I also put it in different points down the spine especially at the tail area (the company recommended this) seems to work better. Capstar every other day for a while wont hurt either.

Are the dogs up to date with worming? As wormy dogs always have fleas apparantly..just a thought. Feeding them garlic is said to help also.

You can make up your own carpet powder with Baking soda or Bicarb soda & essential oils (100%) like eucalyptus, citronella etc in the baking soda & shake it up, then sprinkle it , leave for a while then vaccumm away.

Good luck

[SarahH]

I have had no sleep - spent the whole night tossing and turning and semi-dreaming about being ravaged by armies of maruading fleas. And you know how you start itching at nothing just knowing that there could be fleas around?

the boy looks fine...he just scratches incessantly which drives me nuts but he doesn't seem to have any visible allergic reaction though i am sure just the scratching is making him far more miserable than it makes me.

but my poor beautiful girl is an absolute mess...she usually has such a beautiful soft sleek coat (they are GSPs)...now she looks like something dragged in out of the gutter :-(

If I have time between the carpet cleaning and the pest controller and cleaning/bombing the car today I will try to get her to the vet for some cortisol...it might have to wait until tomorrow though.

Have also been advised to put out mouse/rat bait as they can harbour fleas.

Yes - their worming is up to date...that's something I am always very good about. But I've heard that fleas transmit tapeworm..Sentinel covers tapeworm doesn't it? (I've chucked the packet out)

What is Permoxin and where do I get it from?

[Kristina]

I had the same problem, for a long time no fleas and this year it's got really bad. I also found that no amount of sprays, drops, shampoos, etc, worked whereas before it did.

I think we're finally getting to the end of it all, i used lime on the soil and flead and washed everyone and everything and fingers crossed it works.

Good luck, hope it's over soon for you.

[witheverythingiam]

Step 1: Cortisone Injection for Flea Allergy for your bitch

Step 2: Pest Controller

Step 3: Flea Shampoo & Rinse dogs

Step 4: Apply Sentinel + Advantage + Permoxin for dogs - you can never be too careful

Step 5: Less Baths & Swims - you'll just be washing anything you've applied off!

Step 6: Capstar after you've taken your dog away from house, before you bring them home, Capstar them.

-WithEverythingIAm

[persephone]

what sort of fleas are they?

The visble to the naked eye.hopping around on the dog ones...

or the tiny little 'we stay in a group on one part of the dog" ones?

The dog flea and the stick-fast, or rabbit flea often need different treatment plans!!

What does your vet say?

We have stick-fasts here..NEVER the big dog flea....so our treatments are a bit different.

[SarahH]

thanks everyone

The fleas are...just normal dog fleas. I think. Before easter I thought I had it under control. Then we went away to the holiday house and within a day they were infested with what I think were juvenile dog fleas because they were very small. I'm not sure if they were in the car or at the holiday house. I think the car is more likely and a nice warm 6 hour drive brought them all to life (hence the car got bombed and vacuumed this morning and will probably bomb again this weekend) The next day, the little brown fleas had become big orange fleas...obviously had a good feed? I managed to get rid of most of them with a wash and bombed the holiday house before we left - hopefully they died before they managed to lay too many eggs. When we got back to Sydney they were covered in them again - which convinced me it was the car. But then the day after we got back i.e. yesterday the poor things were absolutely crawling in them so I figured they must still be in the house/garden as well.

Gads...I don't know. I'm keeping them out of the garden for the moment till the pest man can come (he's calling me back) and am madly washing everything in flea shampoo and hot water....water and electricity bills are going to be horrific.

I really need to get the girls skin sorted out because i can't use a spot on till she stops losing skin. Will nick off to the vet now for cortisone but what is best topically? - something like a natural neem oil soap or an oatmeal wash. I think I'm going to have to get her a collar too so she stops chewing herself.

[Amiedoll]

We're in Sydney too, and are having the exact same problem I have tried every product on the market, Frontline worked for two days before my boy was covered in them again! Sentinal Spectrum and capstar (as recommended by the product label) made no difference, even after months of use, the spray on crap stinks, and only works for a day or so, we had no luck with flea collers.

Ive steam cleaned my house, washed the dog stuff (and everything I could get my hands on of ours), I vaccume every second day, plus we only have one rug in the house, the rest is floor boards, and we are at our wits end! :cool:

So I really wanted to thank everyone for the valuable information here, Ive come up with a new plan, which I really hope works, today I'm steam cleaning again, then giving everything a going over with eucalyptus oil and water, tomorrow Im reworming the dogs and cats (I did it two months ago, but decided to do it again because of the severe flea prob), Im putting rock salt in small containers under furniture where the dogs cant get it (I found this hint on a natural solutions website, can't remember which one, I must have looked at a million, lol), Ill add a very small amount of brewers yeast and garlic to the dogs meals, and put small amounts of apple cidar vinegar in their water bowl. Plus they are getting a flea bath today

If this dosent do it, I dont know what will

[Rappie]

I haven't read all the replies so apologies if someone has already said this

Remember that there is no such product as a flea repellent - we can't create an impenetrable barrier around our dog. If fleas are in the environment then they either need to be eradicated there (with environmental sprays, washing bedding, vacuuming etc) or we have to accept that on occasions they will need to hop on the nearest animal in order to be killed by the product that has been applied. As a very general rule, if you can catch a flea easily chances are that it's already on it's way to dying.

Also be aware that the fleas that you see NOW are fleas that have hatched from eggs that may have been laid several weeks ago. No matter what you do, it's going to be hard to "solve" a flea problem in less than 6 weeks. Make sure you use a product that affects the flea life cycle rather than just killing fleas. If it is difficult (or impossible) to treat the environment (under the house, gardens etc) then that's when we resort to using pets as "mops" knowing that they will go to areas where there are fleas, pick them up and then they will die. Eventually, since there are no more eggs being laid, the flea population will dwindle.